Diaz
by Jrmungandr
Summary: Spoilers if you haven't seen Riddick (2013). Diaz is a merc working for Santana, little is know about him, but here he gets a little background.


_If you haven't seen Riddick (2013) there will be spoilers, just apologizing ahead of time._

24 hours before the events that transpired at the Mercenary outpost in the middle of nowhere Santana and his crew were on 'shore leave' as he called it in the Omega Centauri Galaxy. Really they were just bumming around on some backwater planet dotted with refugee camps and shady marketplaces. Perfect place for their type. Santana and the guys, Vargas and Nunez and the others, all spent the last few weeks enjoying the usual debauchery in the same tool shed of a club, practically living there. They were usually too fucked up to even notice Diaz disappearing for several hours at a time, but even if they weren't they'd just think he was out trying to find more women. None of them had it in their imagination that he was meeting up with an old childhood friend.

Maddie. He was surprised when they ran into each other while scoping out illegal firearms, saying to her, "Didn't expect to find you in a shit hole like this." She smiled in a way that made him feel light headed and responded with, "Yea well, the family business is hard to get out of." Diaz remembered how her mother used to tell Maddie not to hang around boys like 'that Diaz' or she'd be ruined. Looks like it didn't work. Maddie's estranged father was a Merc too, he remebered that because Maddie once said, "It's in my blood."

Diaz watched as Maddie picked through a box of miss-matched scopes for every array of weapon, ignoring the unimpressed dealer. "You looking for something in particular, sugar?" The man smirked, leaning over her and nudging Diaz with a snicker. Maddie kept digging in silence until she bolted upright with a look of eureka spread across her striking features. Her eyes lit up like tiny emerald gemstones, "I'll give you 50 creds for this." In her hand she held an unimpressive scope, six or seven inches long, and a little worn. The man choked back laughter as he accepted the offer, completed the transaction and even after Maddie dropped the duffle bag she had strapped to her back. Diaz had a feeling she knew something the dealer didn't, and just watched the situation unfold.

Completely unassembled when she unzipped the bag, Maddie took sixteen seconds to assemble her custom rifle, a familiar old military grade semi automatic that Diaz had seen when they were little collecting dust in a storage cube. It looked much better now. The dealer finally began to frown as the scope she'd just bought snapped on with a satisfying click. "Wait a fucking second," the man pointed, "That's an SM-80... those things are worth at least ten thousand creds." Maddie's lips curled into a sly smirk, "And the scope is worth half of that, which means you're out four thousand nine hundred and fifty." She slung the weapon over her back, laughing with Diaz as they walked away casually.

"You still got it," He was forced to walk close to her in the crowded market, but that didn't bother him at all. In fact being this close to his first crush after so many years made him feel at ease. The fact that she'd grown into a stunning woman rekindled his affection. "I never lost it," She flashed her cocky, confident smile back at him. Just when they reached the epicenter of the market she whipped around and looked up at him in a meaningful way, "Why don't you come by my place later tonight, I'll be stuck here for a while." Diaz received the address on the device strapped to his wrist and nodded, "See you then Syd."

When the time came to meet up with her, Diaz had spent three hours in impatience, zoning in and out of conversation with the boys. He left abruptly without saying goodbye to his inebriated friends and followed the nav device on his wrist until he came to a three story building made of dark, tarnished industrial steel. It must have been an old military barrack or outpost a few decades ago, but now it just acted as a cheap motel. He scaled the steps to the third floor and all the way down the rank hallways, passed the loitering hookers and drug dealers, to the last door. Faint music thrummed on the other side of the door, polynesian music mixed seamlessly with electronic beats. His finger jabbed the call button and a familiar voice answered in a pleased tone, "Is that my eloni?" Diaz smiled sheepishly, looking away from the camera-peep hole. He almost forgot the nickname she'd given him when they were little. It meaned 'mountain'. The door opened with a mechanical swish and Diaz was greeted with the overpowering smell of sandalwood incense, subtle hints of flowers and peaches.

Maddie had put her personal touch on the place, draping the walls and ceilings with sheer red fabrics, the floor was littered with pillows and exotic rugs. "You really did the place up," He commented, still looking around for her in the dim light of the candle's scattered here and there. "Does it remind you of home?" She seemingly manifested from the smoky dark, surprisingly wearing the same tattered shirt and scuffed combat boots from earlier. She made that dingy outfit look like a ballgown, Diaz thought. "I haven't been there in years," He muttered, wondering how long ago it'd been when he noticed the feast she'd laid out. "What is this?" He couldn't contain himself from picking up the smoked meats and helping himself. "Just a little celebration," Maddie had already poured two glasses of purple-red liquor for them, handing him one, "To a wonderful reunion of old friends."

They drank and ate, then drank some more. By the time midnight had come and gone they killed three bottles together, at this point skipping the glasses and drinking it straight. Diaz had found a comfy spot in a nest of pillows, watching her tip the bottle upright and take long, deep swigs. "Hey," He leaned forward, "Do you still remember the haka dance?" They both laughed uncontrollably, Maddie's flushed red. At this point her accent was harder to understand, certainly more funny. "Oya," She laughed in between breathes, "You mean this one?" She hopped up and positioned herself in a low squat, flexing her arms like a muscle builder and trying to make a straight face. She began to chant and pound her legs and chest, but she could only keep it up for a moment, falling other on her side and erupting with giggles. Diaz laughed too, wiping water from his eyes as she sat back up and said, "I look ridiculous when I do that."

"Yea, you do," Diaz teased her, dodging her playful slaps. "Let's see you do better," She challenged. Diaz jumped up and mockingly shouted gibberish, pounding his chest like a gorilla. Maddie was left in shambles at how amused this made her, practically crying. Diaz sat back down with her and smiled affectionately, "Ok, you probably do it better, but I'm a better shot." It likes he hit a switch. Maddie sat bolt upright, a look of childish excitement in her eyes, "Is that a challenge?" Diaz watched in surprise as she got up to her feet as if completely sober and fetched her rifle from it's convenient hiding place. He saw a flash of the rest of her collection too, and impressive assortment of pistols, automatic rifles, knives, and grenades. He followed his lovely femme fatale friend up through a roof access hatch where she had a nice setup already made. "Were you waiting for me to say I was a better shot?" Diaz asked her, folding his hands over his chest. "I always set up a snipers nest wherever I go. Good to be prepared, right eloni?" She finished making the adjustments and stepped back. "You go first."

Diaz lowered himself onto his stomach and readjusted the aim a little, tinkering with the scope, "Where's the target? That little spec out there?" Maddie was behind him, she had a spare scope she was looking through. She muttered, "Yep." Diaz exhaled a little, able to smell the liquor on his breath. He'd never shot from this distance drunk. BOOM! The recoil nudged his shoulder a little softer than expected, but the bullet went incredibly far, zooming right over the target. He cursed and got up, flinching a little when he saw Maddie had laid next to him without him knowing. She, of course, hit the target dead on. "I'm not familiar with that gun... and there was something in my eye," He excused himself.

They traveled back downstairs, the heat of the room warming them again. Diaz found his new favorite spot and sipped from the bottle he'd put down, Maddie joining him in silence for a moment. "There's something I know you're better at then me," She hinted. Diaz didn't catch on for a moment, raising his brows quizzically, "What's that?" Syd smirked coyly. "Oh," it hit Diaz like a sack of bricks, "you mean that time we.. ?" Maddie nodded, leaning on her hand and maintaining her quirky smile. "We were, what, fourteen and sixteen?" She asked. Diaz nodded, "Yea." Maddie's eyes smoldered, "How'd it go again?"

Diaz wasn't about to wait for another invitation. They practically pounced each other, then. Within moments their clothes were strewn around the floor to be neglected until morning. The couple didn't bother with discretion, engaging in a torrential two hour affair despite knowing the walls were thin. It was worth it.

When they had exhausted each other, it had ended all too quickly for them. They diminished like the light from the candles that had no wick left. The music had stopped. The room smelled like their combined sweat and effort. Still, the moment was all too perfect for them. Diaz held the one person he cared for the most in the dank, humid, dark. Didn't matter that they were light years from where he'd imagined this moment.

Morning came, also too soon, and he was forced to report to Santana who had called saying their was a 'fucking huge' bounty. His last moments with Maddie were spent hopeful that he'd come back rich, with enough to buy a little beach shack they could just be together in. Too hopeful, unfortunately. Syd said goodbye to him, her ever-present smile faded. "You could stay. That planet is a hell-hole. No mercs been there in years." She tried once last time to convince him. "Santana said the bounty is Riddick. The Riddick. You know how much I'll get for that? I could buy you any sniper you wanted and then some." She frowned, "You fucking be careful with Riddick..."

Diaz planted a kiss on her forehead, "It's just one guy."


End file.
